1-085 - The Nature of Attachment Representations in Early Adolescence: Longitudinal Roots and New Theoretical Directions

Session Type: Paper Symposium

Integrative Statement

This symposium focuses on different facets of attachment representations in early adolescence, and their associations with children's developmental history, characteristics of the parenting they experienced, and the emotional exchanges in the family. All of the presented studies used the Friends and Family Interview (FFI; Steele & Steele, 2005), a measure of attachment representations designed specifically for the transitional phase of early adolescence, about which there is relatively less research. In the FFI adolescents are asked about the quality of their closest relationships, and both the organization and coherence of their thought processes as well as their understanding of diverse emotions are assessed. In previous research the FFI was related to children's attachment classifications in infancy, and to their parents' attachment states of mind (Steele & Steele, 2005).
The studies in this symposium explored the nature of adolescents' attachment representations in diverse populations and paradigms. The first presentation used a longitudinal design to show that the quality of mother-child emotional dialogues in preschool uniquely predicts attachment representations in early adolescence. The second presentation shows individual differences between early- and late-adopted adolescents in the security of their representations in favor of early-adopted individuals, and elaborates on intriguing gender differences. The third presentation explores the uniqueness of attachment representations in early adolescence, conceptualized as a supervision partnership, and demonstrates its validity.
This symposium underscores that early adolescents' attachment representations are rooted in earlier experiences, have diverse functions, and are important in the longitudinal processes of representational consolidation and emotional development.

Sub Unit

• Parenting & Parent-Child Relationships

Chairs

• Revital Tamari, University of Haifa

• Ora Aviezer, Tel Hai College

Individual Presentations

• Predicting Adolescents' Attachment Representations from Early and Current Mother-Child Emotional Communication - Presenting Author: Revital Tamari, University of Haifa; Non-Presenting Author: Ora Aviezer, Tel Hai College; Non-Presenting Author: David Oppenheim, University of Haifa

• Attachment in Early Adolescence: The Vulnerability of Late-Adopted Girls - Presenting Author: Miriam Steele, The New School for Social Research; Non-Presenting Author: Jill Hodges, Anna Freud National Centre for Children and Families; Non-Presenting Author: Jeanne Kaniuk, Coram Capital Adoption; Non-Presenting Author: Saul Hillman, Anna Freud National Centre for Children and Families; Non-Presenting Author: Vivien Prior, University College London; Non-Presenting Author: Howard Steele, The New School for Social Research

• The Validation of the Supervision Partnership Using the FFI - Presenting Author: Amanda Koehn Klingensmith, Kent State University; Non-Presenting Author: Kathryn A. Kerns, Kent State University